One of the defining aspects of the LLIF residency was its focus on the vulnerability of both languages and landscapes, exploring how the erosion of one can mirror the decline of the other. Cadonau reflected on these parallels during a workshop with Welsh poet and musician Steve Eaves, noting that just as ecosystems are weakened by the loss of a species, the disappearance of a language diminishes the richness, resilience and understanding of the human experience. For her, language embodies an entire worldview, with place-based words in minority languages carrying deep ecological and emotional knowledge. She was fascinated by terms like the Welsh torwino, describing leaves turning inside out before rain, or the Frisian slinke, evoking a river's gentle meander, and the Romansh fadögna, referring to the soft, fragrant carpet of fallen larch needles. “We shared not just landscapes,” she said, “but values – what we choose to name in our languages reveals what is important to us.”

Gianna Cadonau’s relationship to language is both deeply personal and inherently shaped by social and cultural dynamics. “Romansh is my father tongue, German my mother tongue,” she explained, recalling how Romansh was the natural language of her childhood, spoken with her sister, friends and community. Despite this, as a person of colour, she is often asked to explain her connection to Romansh – an experience that has shaped her creative work and led her to explore themes of belonging and identity. Writing in a minority language, she noted, involves grappling with a sense of invisibility and the dominance of majority languages, yet she remains committed to writing on her own terms, believing that every language is whole and capable of expressing anything. During the LLIF residency, she found resonances between Romansh and Welsh and how both languages are affected by demographic changes. She observed a key difference, too: while Romansh benefits from official recognition as one of Switzerland’s four national languages, Welsh has had to contend for its survival, acquiring, she believes, a certain vitality. What she admired most was “the naturalness with which the Welsh live their everyday lives in Welsh.”

The residency also sparked future collaborations and creative projects, granting the cohort a fresh wave of creative energy as well as ideas for new translations and a joint manifesto advocating the importance of such residencies. “Personally, I received new inspiration for a novel in Romansh,” Gianna Cadonau shared. “I’ve returned to poetry after a long time writing prose. That feels good – after all, poetry is my literary home.” Most transformative for her, however, was the rare gift of uninterrupted time: two full weeks devoted entirely to exploration, free from the daily roles and responsibilities that so often fragment creative life. “For a fortnight,” she said, “I was just an author – not a partner, employee or mother. This experience is incredibly valuable for my writing.”

The final day of the residency programme unfolded at the world-renowned Hay Festival, where Cadonau took part in an event chaired by the celebrated Welsh poet Mererid Hopwood. The event brought the themes of the residency to a global audience and shared reflections and insights gathered over two weeks in Wales. The day concluded with a reception at Hay Castle – an elegant farewell to a journey marked by transformative exchanges.

Supported by Literature Wales, the Welsh Government, the British Council, EUNIC London and other partners, the LLIF Residency affirmed the power of literature to build bridges across borders. More importantly, it demonstrated how storytelling, in the face of environmental and linguistic precariousness, can help us navigate the complexities of our time and advocate for a more diverse and sustainable future.

Get a glimpse into the residency through the eyes of its participants here:

‍

Supported by Presence Switzerland.